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State of the Markets

An exploration and analysis of Chicago's commercial real estate market through the lens of capital financing.

Matthew Berry

Matthew Berry

Founder/Principal

Wayland Real Estate Capital

John Rutledge

John Rutledge

Founder, President & CEO

Oxford Capital Group, Oxford Hotels & Resorts

Scott McKibben

Scott McKibben

Chief Investment Officer

Brennan Investment Group

Amanda Milnes

Amanda Milnes

Senior Principal - Capital Markets

Walton Street Capital

Paul Cleary

Paul Cleary

President & COO

Red Oak Capital Holdings

Anthony Longo

Anthony Longo

Managing Partner

Alpha Capital

David Kwitman

David Kwitman

Executive Director

Ready Capital

John Rickert
Moderator

John Rickert

Principal & Founder

Lee & Associates | Cincinnati

Matthew Berry

Founder/Principal

Wayland Real Estate Capital

Matthew Berry is a seasoned real estate professional with almost 15 years of experience advising, investing, and practicing law in the industry. He is the Founder and Principal of Wayland Real Estate Capital, a boutique sponsor of real estate investments for high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and small institutional investors. In addition, Matthew serves as an independent advisor to The John Buck Company, a premier vertically integrated developer of trophy office and multifamily assets nationwide, where he previously served as Managing Director and focused on partnership and fund formation for the company’s development and value-add investment opportunities. During this time, Matthew led the capitalization of over $450M of single-asset joint ventures and comingled vehicles. Prior to joining JBC, he practiced law at Skadden Arps, where he led the closing of over $5B of real estate transactions. Matthew earned his BS from Northwestern University, and subsequently his JD from Northwestern University School of Law. Matthew’s civic involvement includes positions on the Board of Directors of the Northwestern University Law Fund, the Northwestern University Leadership Circle Chicago Regional Board, and the Board of Directors of the Civic Federation.

John Rutledge

Founder, President & CEO

Oxford Capital Group, Oxford Hotels & Resorts

John is the Founder, President and CEO of Oxford Capital Group, LLC, a national real estate investment and development firm focusing on large scale hospitality, mixed-use, senior housing, multifamily, urban retail, parking, and other operationally intensive forms of real estate. Oxford Hotels & Resorts, LLC, its wholly owned management affiliate, specializes in developing, operating and branding distinctive, high design lifestyle hotels, rooftops and other food & beverage venues around the country. Oxford, its affiliates and principals have been involved in approximately $3 billion of transactions, including approximately 13,000 hotel rooms. Noted national projects include Godfrey Hotel-Hollywood, Godfrey Hotel-Boston, Metropolitan Hotel and Lexington Hotel – New York City, National Conference Center-Lansdowne, VA, Residence Inn and Spring Hill Suites in Charleston, SC, and Godfrey Hotel & Cabanas-Tampa Bay. Included in his 17 Chicago area projects (13 of which are hotels) are the recently topped off 56 story Essex on the Park luxury apartment building, and his soon to open Hotel Julian-Millennium Park. Other Chicago projects include Langham Chicago, LondonHouse Chicago, Godfrey Chicago, Hotel Essex, Hotel Felix, Hotel Cass, Hotel Versey, Claridge House, Hyatt Magnificent Mile, Renaissance North Shore, Doubletree North Shore, and Hyatt House Northwest. Additional rooftop and food and beverage venues include IO, LH, SX-Sky Bar, ALK, WTR and Spa Boutique. John and/or Oxford have been nominated for and/or won numerous awards including: Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Arthur Rubloff Humanitarian Award, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Crain’s “40 under 40” and Who’s Who, Developer of the Year, Development of the Year, Redevelopment of the Year, National Hotel Transaction of the Year, Historic Redevelopment of the Year and the Top Hotel in the Continental US. He earned a BA from The University of Michigan and an MBA from University of Chicago. He also studied at Northwestern University, Harvard Business School (YPO’s Presidents’ Program) and Oxford University (Christ Church).

Paul Cleary

President & COO

Red Oak Capital Holdings

Paul Cleary is President and Chief Operating Officer of Red Oak Capital Holdings, where he oversees the firm’s finances, business partnerships and funding opportunities. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based executive is also charged with overseeing and measuring the success of business and employee initiatives for the national commercial real estate finance company.

In addition to his role with Red Oak, Paul serves as Managing Partner and President of Oak Real Estate Partners (OREP), a national fund manager focused on the institutional investment sector.

Paul has over 25 years of national commercial real estate lending experience involving small-balance originations, construction loans and federally chartered credit union portfolios. He has significant expertise in creating and managing lending policies and guidelines, as well as the development of operational tools and information systems to support financing operations. Before Red Oak, Paul was a Senior Loan Originator with Parkview Financial, and served as Chief Operating Officer for Money360, Inc.

Paul is an alumnus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. He also holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of California, Irvine, as well as a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law.

Anthony Longo

Managing Partner

Alpha Capital

Anthony Longo is a distinguished leader with over 20 years of expertise in navigating complex transactions within the real estate sector. As the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Alpha Capital CRE, Anthony oversees strategic initiatives in real estate capital markets and drives production. He possesses a comprehensive understanding of capital structures, investment strategies, and risk management, leveraging this expertise to optimize investment opportunities and maximize returns for commercial real estate operators and developers.

Throughout his career, Anthony Longo has cultivated a robust network of industry relationships, enabling him to forge key partnerships and execute successful transactions in diverse market conditions. He has played an instrumental role in helping Alpha Capital CRE execute over $9 billion in real estate transactions during his 15+ year tenure, consistently delivering exceptional results in raising capital, structuring deals, and executing financial strategies aligned with clients & objectives.

Anthony holds a bachelor’s degree from the Tippie College of Business, University of Iowa. He is actively involved in the real estate community, sitting on panels, sharing insights, and staying at the forefront of emerging trends and innovations in real estate capital markets.

David Kwitman

Executive Director

Ready Capital

David is a real estate investment professional with over 15 years of experience investing in private and public market real estate transactions across the capital structure and property types. As an Executive Director in the production group of Ready Capital, David has sourced, structured and closed over $950 million in bridge and fixed rate loans across 75+ transactions. David’s focus is transitional and value-add real estate opportunities, Freddie Mac Small Balance and non-recourse Construction loans. Prior to Ready Capital, David held positions at FirstKey Lending, Prudential Real Estate Investors, J.P.Morgan, and Deloitte Consulting.

He is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and received his M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, where he focused on real estate and finance. He is a CFA Charterholder, earning the designation in 2009.

Primary Market Regional Coverage: Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, Rocky Mountains, Southwest

John Rickert

Moderator

Lee & Associates | Cincinnati

John’s diverse real estate background includes extensive property management experience with central business district class A office high rise, industrial, office/flex, retail, suburban office, and public facilities management.

In addition to his property management background, John has distinguished himself in all aspects of tenant improvement and building construction. John has worked for such industry leaders as Hines Interests, Cabot Industrial Trust (now Cabot Properties) and CB Richard Ellis. John received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science at the University of Richmond. John is a graduate of Culver Military Academy and a former United States Army Officer and helicopter pilot.

EXPERIENCE:

Principal and Founder - Cincinnati, Ohio 2001 to Present

RICORE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, INC.

GENERAL CONTRACTING PARTNERS, LLC.

RICORE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SPECIAL ASSETS, LLC.

Vice President and Midwest/West Regional Director

Cabot Industrial Trust

Cincinnati, Ohio

1998 –December 2001

Vice President and Director

Commercial/CB Richard Ellis

Cincinnati, Ohio

1994 – 1998

AFFILIATIONS

• Former Chairman, Deerfield, Ohio Township Trustee Advisory Board

• Former Board of Zoning Appeals Commissioner, Deerfield Township

• Founder & Former President, Cincinnati Chapter – Culver Alumni Association

• Member Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA)

• Member Institute of Real Estate Management

• Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM)

EDUCATION

• United States Army Flight Training Academy, Fort Rucker, Alabama, 1988

• University of Richmond, Richmond, VA, 1987 - BA, Economics

• Culver Military Academy, Culver, Indiana, 1983 - Cum Laude

• Active Real Estate Broker’s License, Ohio – 2003 to present

• Active Real Estate Broker’s License, Kentucky – 2009 to present

Funding the Future: Innovations in Real Estate Finance and Lending

Leaders cover the latest trends in real estate finance, including lending practices, creative financing solutions, and innovative approaches to funding developments.

Daniel Sobelman

Daniel Sobelman

Founder & Managing Partner

CRE Bridge Capital

Chris Knight

Chris Knight

Managing Director

JLL Capital Markets

Julie Robinson

Julie Robinson

SVP - Investments

Ventas REIT

Tim Donovan

Tim Donovan

Managing Director of Investments

Midloch Investment Partners

Kurt Sarbaugh

Kurt Sarbaugh

Managing Director, Capital Markets

JLL

Darragh Griffin

Darragh Griffin

President and Principal

Essex Capital Markets

Darshak Shah

Darshak Shah

Sr. Director, Originations

Nuveen Green Capital

Amy Haney
Moderator

Amy Haney

Project Manager

DLR Group

Chris Knight

Managing Director

JLL Capital Markets

Chris is a Managing Director in the Chicago office of JLL Capital Markets. He joined JLL as part of the 2019 acquisition of HFF and has more than 15 years of experience in commercial real estate. He focuses on arranging asset-level financings and subordinate debt transactions for all product types along with joint venture equity partnerships. Over the course of his career, he has completed more than $4 billion of commercial real estate transactions.

Before joining HFF in 2013, Chris was a manager in the finance group of General Growth Properties (GGP). During his seven-year tenure at GGP, he was responsible for property financings, enterprise analytics and loan restructurings during the company’s bankruptcy.

Julie Robinson

SVP - Investments

Ventas REIT

Julie Robinson is Senior Vice President, Investments for Ventas, Inc., an S&P 500 company and real estate investment trust that owns approximately 1,200 healthcare, life science and senior living properties in North America and the United Kingdom, and serves as the primary capital partner to leading healthcare providers and research institutions.

As a member of the Ventas senior leadership team, Robinson leads the team responsible for the risk assessment, diligence, negotiation and execution of all the firm’s investments, including real estate acquisitions, ground-up developments, joint venture investments and loans in the U.S. and internationally. Under Robinson’s leadership, Ventas has closed in excess of $15 billion in transactions including transformative investments in the Hospital (Ardent Health Services) and Research & Innovation (Wexford Science & Technology) sectors as well as trophy developments in outpatient medical, senior living and research & innovation. With an emphasis on optimizing business operations and improving performance, Robinson also plays an important role in evaluating and reviewing investment opportunities being presented to the Ventas Management Capital Committee.

An accomplished business leader with more than 20 years’ experience in acquisitions, deal structuring, corporate finance, management consulting and process improvement, Robinson joined Ventas in 2012 following a successful career at General Electric (GE). During her GE tenure, Robinson played a lead role in the underwriting, due diligence and negotiation of debt financing for the seniors housing and skilled nursing industry at GE Healthcare Financial Services, and led GE’s strategic initiatives across a variety of industries, including the acquisition of a software company serving the utilities industry and the IPO of Genworth Financial.

Robinson is a member of the Kellogg Real Estate Advisory Council whose mission is to enhance the Northwestern Business School’s impact on the field of real estate through efforts to support quality teaching, research, and curriculum development; to promote student recruitment and placement; and to advance relations with alumni and other leaders in the real estate industry. She also founded the Ventas Women’s Network, an employee resource group dedicated to the success and engagement of women at Ventas through professional development, career management and mentoring.

Robinson received her B.S. in Finance from Miami University and her M.B.A. from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. She is married with one son.

Darragh Griffin

President and Principal

Essex Capital Markets

Darragh Griffin is a Principal and President at Essex Capital Markets. He grew up in Ireland and graduated from University College Cork in beautiful County Cork, Ireland. He got his start in finance at Anglo Irish Bank. In 2006 he relocated from Dublin to Chicago to establish a representative office for the Anglo-Irish Bank, which he did with another senior lending manager. During that first year in Chicago, loans exceeded $1 billion, net profits exceeded $14 million and fee income exceeded $3.5 million.

Over the course of his career, Darragh has managed diverse and complex loan portfolios located in many states across the country. He has been directly involved in more than $5 billion in real estate transactions across multi-housing, senior housing, office, industrial and logistics, life sciences, retail and single tenant net leased assets.

Darragh’s desire to join the Essex Capital Markets team and lead this new venture is the culmination of a career’s worth of experience, expertise, and connections. We invite you to reach out to Darragh and see how he can help your business.

Darshak Shah

Sr. Director, Originations

Nuveen Green Capital

Darshak joins Nuveen Green Capital most recently from CIBC, where he was a relationship manager of originations. Prior to CIBC, Darshak worked at Wells Fargo Bank, GE Real Estate, JER Partners, and Washington Mutual Bank. His roles have included originations, underwriting, portfolio management, and workouts. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with his family, as well as being outdoors, exercising, and reading.

Amy Haney

Moderator

DLR Group

As a Senior Architect and Project Manager with DLR Group, Amy leads integrated design teams with extensive experience on large mixed-use projects specializing in development planning, zoning and entitlements management, and architectural and engineering design through construction, asset management, and operations. Drawing from her many years of experience seated on the owners’ side of the table with both market-rate and affordable real estate development, she brings a unique perspective to guide clients through the design and construction process, and has experience effectively aligning many stakeholders, disciplines, and viewpoints. Amy is an advocate for community involvement, currently serving as Executive Board member and Chairperson of the Community Placemaking and Design Committee of nonprofit community and business development organization LakewoodAlive.

Opening Keynote

Quintin Primo III
Keynote

Quintin Primo III

Founder & Executive Chairman

Capri Investment Group

JC Griffin, Sr.

JC Griffin, Sr.

CEO

Griffin Venture Group

Quintin Primo III

Founder & Executive Chairman

Capri Investment Group

Mr. Primo is founder and executive chairman of Capri Investment Group, a real estate investment and development organization headquartered in Chicago with offices in Los Angeles. Active in the real estate industry for more than 40 years, Mr. Primo has challenged conventional wisdom in developing new markets for investment. Under his leadership, Capri became an early investor in both U.S. multifamily and urban property markets – successfully investing more than $14 billion since the company’s founding – and has pursued developments in India, Africa, and the Middle East. Recently, he was responsible for bringing Google to Chicago’s Central Loop in a groundbreaking redevelopment of the James R. Thompson Center, resuscitating a historically important submarket in decline. In these and other investments, his goal has been to achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns for the firm’s investors, while enhancing those communities in which Capri responsibly invests.

In addition to his business interests, Mr. Primo is active in civic and non-profit initiatives. He is a founder and currently co-chairman of the Primo Center for Women and Children, a transitional center and family institute for the homeless; was the founding chairman of the Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness; and is a board member of the Chicago Council of Global Affairs, School of the Art Institute of Chicago as well as board chair of the Church Investment Group. In addition, he has previously served as trustee of the Chicago Community Trust, University of Chicago Hospitals, Metropolitan Planning Council, and the Church Pension Group.

Mr. Primo received his M.B.A. from Harvard University Graduate School of Business, and a B.S. in Finance with honors from Indiana University. He has been featured in national publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, Forbes, The New York Times, Bloomberg Business Week, and Black Enterprise, and has been a business contributor to CNBC cable news network. In addition to public company board experience, he has written or co-authored numerous articles and industry white papers and is often recognized for his professional, civic, and philanthropic contributions, including receiving an honorary doctorate from Sewanee/University of the South.

Mr. Primo is an avid cyclist and resides in the Chicago area with his family.

Why You Can't Miss This Event

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

  • What key market trends are leaders planning for across Chicago’s capital environment? Are these trends unique to the city? 

  • What capital developments are bellwethers for the Chicago market? Are there particular niches, updates, or opportunities that developers, or even tenants, find appealing?

  • How are developers and investors working together to transform the city? What can be learned from the more successful real estate partnerships?

  • In the context of a fast-changing market, how can investors stay attuned to the latest financial priorities and opportunities?

  • With rising interest rates and an increasingly bullish development mentality, how can capital markets professionals stay engaged?

  • How are high interest rates and other economic headwinds affecting city development and expansion operations? 

  • How are property owners ensuring flexibility in their developments and accommodating potential shifts in market demand or changes in regional dynamics?

  • What has been the impact of diminished capital on the surrounding communities? How can public and private sector leaders work together to create resilient communities?

  • What bright spots remain in the development market? Are there particular areas less marred by diminished access to capital and liquidity?

How You’ll Do More Business:

As they work through high interest rates and a complex decision making environment, Chicago's real estate leaders face a complex and discouraging dichotomy of enormous change and slowing market growth. With costs only increasing, how and why projects receive the financing they do has become equal part indispensable and inscrutable, and requires nuanced observation of the commercial real estate market and the relationships that define it.

Amidst the adversity, how are deals getting done? What bright spots remain in the eyes of investment decision makers? And how can capital sources work together with development and construction experts to chart the right path forward? Join Bisnow and Chicago’s leading real estate financial professionals for a closer look at the past, present, and future state of the city’s capital market environment.

Who You'll Network With At This Event: 

Owners, developers, investors, brokers, business consultants, architects, engineers, designers,  lawyers, accountants, bankers and city and government officials.

Why You Should Attend This Session: 

Bisnow events convene the biggest power players in the industry to help you grow your business across a complex market. With engaging discussions, exclusive networking opportunities, and the largest and most equipped audience in the field, Bisnow’s unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities of the market makes attendance a value add for any CRE professional. 

Questions about your ticket purchase or interested in sponsoring?

Reach out to customerservice@bisnow.com for customer support. For questions, recommendations, comments or press inquiries please email our Chicago event producer Will Follett at will.follett@bisnow.com. To request disability-related accommodations, please contact janet.fernandez@bisnow.com no later than seven business days prior to the event.

Venue

Swissotel Chicago
323 E. Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60601

Ballroom: Lucerne, Lower Level 


$40 Valet Parking

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Agenda

Time Activity
1:00 PM
1:55 PM
Breakfast and Networking
1:55 PM
2:00 PM
Opening Remarks by JDRF

Representatives of JDRF welcome attendees to the program.

2:00 PM
2:30 PM
Opening Keynote: Quintin Primo III
2:30 PM
3:15 PM
State of the Markets

An exploration and analysis of Chicago's commercial real estate market through the lens of capital financing.

3:15 PM
4:00 PM
Funding the Future: Innovations in Real Estate Finance and Lending

Leaders cover the latest trends in real estate finance, including lending practices, creative financing solutions, and innovative approaches to funding real estate projects.

4:00 PM
4:30 PM
Closing Networking

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